Emotional Outlets: Must Sing and Dance

I never thought of myself as necessarily that unenthusiastic, but lately I have begun to wonder. It started at Beauty and the Beast a few weeks ago. I took my daughter to see a local production, and it seems I have somehow unleashed the musical theater muse into my house. I just love a life where you are filled with so much emotion that the only option you are left with is breaking into song. When you’re sad you must sing. When you are happy you must sing. And kudos to you when you can get the townspeople to join in with you. My daughter has caught the bug. She sings in the car when her brothers hit her, at the top of her lungs of course. She sings to request her Lucky Charms and milk. Hunger is a catalyst for singing I suppose. She sings in the shower. Oh there are endless concerts as she runs up my water bill. Funny that you can have emotion that bubbles over your regular spoken voice; you MUST sing!

Call me unexcitable, but I feel the same way when I watch my six-month old nephew play. When I smile at him he stares back at my with his toothy grin, and he starts working his little feet a mile a minute. He kicks so excitedly that he rocks his chair on the floor. I suppose I should take it as a compliment. His little body is just not big enough to contain his joy at a smile from me! He’s just gotta’ move! I can’t say the same for myself. I don’t recall the last time that a smile or a bit of news moved me from my seat. I just can’t see myself getting that excited and kicking and kicking. Although I’ve never been on fire in my recent memory, so I guess I can’t really say for sure.

And then there are the countless shivers and shakes of my children, when their whole body flays in revulsion, usually at something I’ve cooked. They don’t just roll eyes or turn up their noses; they have a whole technique that looks like something halfway between catching a chill and doing a breakdance. They save the best physical gymnastic maneuvers for lasagna. No offense to Italy, but they really hate it

So perhaps I need to work on my excitement level. I need some practice in whole-body non-verbal communication, I suppose. And throw in some singing lessons on the side. If you’re not careful, though, I just might turn up when you least expect it to get you involved in a chorus of sorts, filled with high kicks and body shakes of all varieties. Then we will really prove how enthusiastic we are!!